Subpar Art

1. borrowing misery from future

2. carrying grief of the past

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

He's also bouncing off a lot of the Dread Doctors abandoned research on various stuff. From weapons to medicine. It's what he spends almost all his time doing. Liam definitely finds the who mad scientist thing attractive. Especially because it leads to Theo gifting him some incredibly interesting things as their relationship progresses.

Theo also builds himself an honest to god hoverboard at some point because Stiles bet he couldn't after seeing Theo had built for what was for all intensive purposes a lightsaber.

Whenever I imagine Theo's future it's all normalcy and mundanity. I imagine after all that hell he went through he could use a normal ass apple pie life. I imagine him getting a blue collar job, mostly as a mechanic but I'm open to other offers. Of course the supernatural would keep coming at them but for the most part it's just domestic bliss.

But this? Why did I never consider this? The complete opposite of what I've always imagined, but it intrigues. His life has already been touched by the supernatural -and by touched I mean full body tackled- Why not lean into it? It's on his own terms now, he's in control so why would he shy away?

There's a Theo that's traumatized from everything that's happened. That wants to move on from it all, never step foot in another tunnel again. Try and forget every neat trick and biological factiod that'd been stored in his brain for later use. One that benefits from distance. One that's able to make something of himself that he's proud of. But there's also a Theo that moves on in a different way, that faces it head on. That goes into the heart of his trauma, those fucking tunnels where the screams still bounce off the walls and makes it all his own. That takes what the Doctor's forced upon him and uses it to the fullest. That transforms his past into something useful, fun even.

Chapter 1: Blue

Theo woke up in the passenger seat of his truck.

It had been months since he had been brought back from the Skinwalkers’ Hell, and he’d been sleeping in his truck ever since. He’d become homeless–no home, no school, nowhere to go–and he hated it. He wanted something to change. He knew that he was not that Theo “I’ll-manipulate-everyone-in-your-pack-and-murder-your-Alpha-so-I-can-steal-his-power” Raeken anymore, but he was also not Scott McCall, the True Alpha who always seemed to know what he was doing and somehow managed to drag himself and his friends out of every hot mess.

He’d been having nightmares, with the heavy bags under his eyes as an unwanted consequence, so it was not unusual for him to wake up at three in the morning, hissing and panting, claws aimlessly thrashing until almost breaking something inside the truck. But not this time, this time it was peaceful instead.

“Ugh...” Theo pushed himself upright and peered through the windshield into the pitch darkness outside. The trees in the preserve swayed as the wind brushed through them, dancing against the white-noise backdrop of rustling leaves and creaking branches. It was as if the whole town had decided to take a break from the supernatural bloodbath that had happened not so long ago, pretending nothing had ever happened.

Maybe he should take a break too. Maybe he should just try to get a couple more hours of sleep before forcing himself into thinking about the current hellhole he’d jumped into from another hellhole. Maybe he should just-

The driver’s side door opened. Theo flinched as someone climbed into the truck with a loud slam and started the engine.

“What the fu- Get out of my truck! Who are you? Get out!” he screamed in vain as the intruder ignored him and shifted the truck into gear.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Get. Out. Of. My. Truck!” he yelled again, suddenly feeling the truck begin to move. “Hey, hey, hey! Stop! Stop the car! What the fuck are you doing? Stop it-”

He cut himself off as the truck passed beneath a streetlight, a dim beam briefly illuminating the driver’s face, enough to make Theo freeze.

“Liam?”

The truck swerved through the muddy trail and slammed onto the pavement a little too fast, the tires screeching in protest.

“Liam? What are you doing?”

Liam didn’t answer, eyes locked forward, jaw clenched tight.

Rage. Theo could smell it in the air.

“Liam? Are you having an episode? What are you doing? Where are you going?” Theo growled angrily, though he wasn’t really mad at Liam. Well, of course he was mad–everyone should be mad if they got kidnapped in their own car–but right now he was more confused than anything else.

A sharp left turn threw Theo against the side window.

“Ow! What the fuck, Liam!” Theo snarled.

The truck rapidly ascended. Theo found himself entering the freeway ramp.

“Liam, where are you going?”

“Shut up.” Liam muttered.

“What?”

“I said SHUT UP!”

Theo gritted his teeth, eyes still fixed on the young werewolf’s face. The chemosignals in the atmosphere were intoxicating, but he didn’t even need his enhanced sense of smell to figure out the fury. Typical fury when an IED explodes. But there was something else laced in it.

They didn’t speak for another ten minutes. Theo just somehow allowed himself to be trapped inside a moving vehicle alongside a moving bomb, especially when the bomb himself was the one driving. The truck sped through the freeway lanes like a jet, mocking the “SPEED LIMIT 65” sign like a bad joke. Soon, Theo’s eyes landed on a familiar stele.

“You’re now leaving Beacon Hills.” he quietly parroted.

They drove for fifteen more minutes in silence, until Theo couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Liam. Please. Talk to me. What happened?” he pleaded.

No response.

“C’mon, Liam. You’re fucking stealing my truck.”

“Should be familiar with that given that we’ve literally stolen a police truck before.” Liam muttered.

“What? Really, Liam? You’re throwing that in my face? I was saving your fucking ass from the Ghost Riders, and now you’re just stealing my truck for absolutely no reason.” Theo bellowed, raising his hand in a what-the-fuck gesture. “With me in it!”

“No reason?” Liam raised his eyebrow. Theo needed to clench his fist with his claws not to throw a punch at Liam’s face.

“Yeah! There won’t be any reason if you just WILL NOT TALK! So Jeez, Liam. Just explain like I’m five. What happened?”

Another silence.

Theo sighed. What the fuck is happening now!? He hadn’t seen any of the McCall pack’s members since the end of the war. Was it like, two months ago? And then suddenly Liam showed up interrupting one of his midnight crises and then KIDNAPPED him? Shouldn’t he be the one who was out there kidnapping random teenagers for the sake of some wicked experiments?

Theo glanced at the dashboard and suddenly widened his eyes in horror. The fuel gauge was pointing at “Empty”.

“Liam! You need to get off the freeway! Now!” he shouted. “The gas is not going to hold up with your IED fantasy adventure!”

Liam’s hands were still locked on the steering wheel, foot pressing down on the throttle. There was no hint of slowing down.

“Liam! Are you listening? We’re out of gas!”

The tires screeched with a disturbingly loud noise. Theo was abruptly jolted toward the middle of the truck, which was now aiming at the EXIT sign crossing three lanes at a time. The truck didn’t stop at the stoplights and turned right into the cross street. Which was red by the way. It swerved along the street for an additional three minutes and was finally parked at a Chevron.

Theo jumped out of the truck without hesitation, rushed to the driver’s side, and yanked the door open.

“Alright. Get out.” Theo said firmly.

Liam sat still in his seat, not moving a single muscle. Theo swore he could see his full body sink five inches into the seat, as if it were made of slime.

“Liam,” Theo said again. “You need to tell me what’s wrong with you, or you’ll have to get out of my truck.”

“So if I tell you what’s wrong, I can stay in your truck?” Liam said quietly, still staring straight ahead.

“Oh God...” Theo rolled his eyes, unable to believe what he had just heard.

They stood/sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them willing to break this stupid contest. Finally, Theo gave in.

“Alright, fine.” He said. “If you just tell me what happened, I’ll let you stay inside my truck.”

Liam still didn’t say anything, nor did he break his statue impersonation.

“...And I’ll fill up the gas, then get us some food.”

Hearing that, Liam finally raised his head, gazing tentatively at Theo. His eyes sparkled in the dark, like two stars shining in the late summer night, or two stray sparks drifting above a fireplace. Blazing, yet ice-cold. Theo shivered, then he saw a streak of reflection beneath one of Liam’s eyes, painting a line of sorrow.

“Liam, are you-” Theo gasped, but quickly returned to his normal nonchalant tone. “Are you crying?”

Still, nothing came from inside the truck. Just as Theo was about to implode from the silent treatment, Liam spoke.

“Promise me.”

“What?”

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“As if I have anyone to talk to.” Theo scoffed. “Your pack barely talked to me after the war.”

“Just promise me, will you?” Liam whispered, lowering his head to stare at the concrete.

Pausing for a moment, Theo facepalmed and sighed. “Okay, I promise I won’t tell anyone. So could you please tell me what’s wrong?”

The little werewolf raised his head again, but instead of just staring at the older boy, he flashed his eyes, shooting two fierce beams of light into the chimera’s confusion.

They were blue.

Blue as the ocean, beautiful yet dreadful. Blue as the flame at the tip of a torch, hypnotizing yet treacherous. Blue as death.

Theo’s eyes widened in shock.

“Liam, what the hell happened to your eyes?”